Murmuration Panel — March 26, 2026

Moderator

Emily Ramshaw

President & CEO

The 19th*

Emily Ramshaw is the president and CEO of The 19th*, the nation's first independent nonprofit newsroom at the intersection of gender, politics, and policy. The 19th* aims to elevate the voices of women left at the margins of American media with free-to-consume and free-to-republish daily journalism, newsletters, and live events. Prior to The 19th, Ramshaw was editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune, an award-winning local news startup and the largest statehouse news operation in the nation. She is the outgoing board chair of the Pulitzer Prize, where she served for nine years. In 2020, Ramshaw was named to Fortune's "40 Under 40" list. Ramshaw started her career at The Dallas Morning News, where she broke national stories about abuse inside Texas' youth lock-ups, reported from inside a West Texas polygamist compound and uncovered "fight clubs" at state institutions for people with disabilities. A native of Washington, D.C., Ramshaw graduated from Northwestern University with dual degrees in journalism and American history. She lives in Austin with her filmmaker husband, their 10-year-old daughter, and a puppy named Waffles.

Panelists

Adela de la Torre

Deputy Director

Justice Action Center

Adela de la Torre is a communications expert with nearly 20 years of experience in media relations and narrative strategies. She currently serves as deputy director of Justice Action Center, an organization that combines narrative change with impact litigation to build a more inclusive future. Prior to her time with Justice Action Center, she consulted with various nonprofits and foundations on impact, growth, and communications efforts. Earlier in her career, Adela served as Communications Director for the National Immigration Law Center, where she built their digital and media platforms. She has received awards from the Hispanic Public Relations Society and the Public Relations Society of America for her efforts. Adela resides in Pasadena, California with her spouse and two children.

Yolanda Davis-Overstreet

Filmmaker & Founder

Biking While Black

Yolanda Davis-Overstreet is a filmmaker and the founder of Biking While Black, where her work centers the justice and joy of bicycling while confronting the realities that Black and Brown communities face in public space, including overpolicing, disinvestment, and systemic inequities in infrastructure. Through storytelling, community engagement, and on-the-ground activation, she uplifts lived experiences as data—bridging community voice with policy, planning, and design to drive tangible change. Her work extends beyond grassroots engagement into collaboration with public agencies and regional partners, helping to inform and shape safer, more equitable mobility systems across Los Angeles by working alongside entities like the Department of Transportation, Metro, and the Southern California Association of Governments—ensuring that the voices of historically underserved communities are not only heard, but embedded into the decisions that shape our streets and public spaces.

Cynthia Richie Terrell

Founder & Executive Director

RepresentWomen

Cynthia Richie Terrell is the founder and executive director of RepresentWomen, a co-founder of FairVote, and an outspoken advocate for institutional reforms to advance women's representation and leadership. Terrell has worked on numerous political campaigns, has been named one of Washington, DC's top policy experts, and has been published widely including a weekly column on women's representation for Ms Magazine. Terrell is an avid knitter and gardener, has three children, and is active in local politics and in the Quaker community.

Sarah Stamper

Chief Research Officer

Murmuration

Sarah Stamper has been a neuroscientist for over 15 years, specializing in the quantitative analysis of behavior and systems. At Murmuration, a non-profit that organizes a network of partners and equips them with the insights, tools, and services to help communities build and activate the power to transform America, Sarah leads a team of data and scientific experts building cutting-edge data and insights that empower partners to better understand, engage, and mobilize their communities. She also authors State of Us, a series that explores what America is feeling, thinking, and moving toward together for Murmuration's Substack. Before joining Murmuration, she led product and data science at Helm, a civic technology company. She also previously led research at the Art & Science Group, providing valuable data and insights to K-12 institutions, higher education, and nonprofit organizations, shaping their approaches to community engagement and strategic planning.

Tanzila Ahmed

Political Strategist, Storyteller & Artist

Los Angeles

Tanzila "Taz" Ahmed is a political strategist, storyteller, and artist based in Los Angeles. She creates at the intersection of counternarratives and culture-shifting as a South Asian American Muslim 2nd-gen woman. She's turned out over 500,000 Asian American voters, recorded five years of the award winning Good Muslim Bad Muslim podcast, and has a protest sign she designed in the permanent archives of the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Her essays are published in the anthologies We Are Civic Media, New Moons, Pretty Bitches, Whiter, Good Girls Marry Doctors, Love Inshallah, and in numerous online publications.